


6am & do it again

by seaofolives



Series: Fire & Steel Playbook [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Casual Sex, Developing Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, Friends With Benefits, Hotel Sex, Light BDSM, M/M, POV Gladiolus Amicitia, Walk Into A Bar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:00:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27117868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seaofolives/pseuds/seaofolives
Summary: Or…maybe nothingdidhappen between them.He counted to five, and then the59turned to00on his phone. Officially, an hour had passed.Officially, Gladio had been waiting for an hour. Ignis would never come, he thought. He could call him, of course, but it was just an unspoken thing between them that they didnʼt. If they saw each other in the bar, then they would talk. If they didnʼt, then they didnʼt.So they wouldnʼt.(a story about friendship, sex, and some love)
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia
Series: Fire & Steel Playbook [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1979386
Comments: 14
Kudos: 60





	6am & do it again

Another morning, another hotel room. 

And in that same moment that he realized where he was, and _why_ he was there, Gladio understood that it just wasnʼt the same. Was it the quiet? The emptiness? He was alone in the bed, looking at an empty space beside him. The shower was running and jazz music was playing softly through the door. 

So did he feel bad that he was…dissed? That was to say, left alone in the bed…after that night they spent together? It wasnʼt even like he came here expecting something but in trying to put his finger on this…this nothing feeling, he was coming up short with ideas. He and his companion had an itch to scratch and decided to help each other out and book a hotel room to do it. But it just wasnʼt the same even though they did things he often did, that itch of his was still there. 

And he couldnʼt figure out why. Well, not objectively, that is. Deep inside, he _knew_ why but he was hoping he could get some observations based purely on facts to explain what he was feeling. _Scientific evidence_ was probably the term he was looking for. _To further prove that his feelings towards the subject was valid, the researcher had sex with a different man and made the following interpolation…_

Heʼd been staring at the ceiling, lost in a whirlpool of thoughts, when the door finally opened and his companion stepped out, dressed and ready for work now. “Hey,” he greeted him, still naked under the quilt. 

“You’re not coming in today?” No flirtations, not even so much as a quiet, smiling _hello_. He was fair-haired and green-eyed like Gladioʼs ideal companion but a little skinnier and shorter and rougher with his hands. He went straight for the closet where they kept their bags and started packing. 

Gladio shook his head, still watching his movements. He focused on his ass, nice and round under his Crownsguard uniform. 

No dice. It only reminded him of the other one he wanted. Couldnʼt even feel the slightest stir in his cock to make him reconsider. “Itʼs my rest day,” he answered. 

“Lucky bastard,” his companion snorted. He hefted his bag onto his shoulder, pushed the door shut, like it was the locker room and not some fancy place where they spent the night in tangles. 

“Wanna stay for breakfast?” Gladio offered, one last shot at his little experiment. “Iʼll ring for room service.” 

“Nah, Iʼm good,” the guy refused with a polite smile, shaking his head. “Iʼll have breakfast in the cafeteria.” 

“Okay.” Gladio should probably feel disappointed or worried, he thought, that this man felt nothing about him despite his performance last night. Nothing, though. It was just what it was. “Drive safe.” 

“Sure, thanks for last night.” His companion waved to him on his way out. “I had fun.” Not even an invitation to do it again. 

“Yeah, me too.” That was a lie but whatever, no one was keeping tabs. Though in the end, he supposed last night was just slightly better than jerking off on his own. “Thanks for dropping by.”

—

Normally something like that would be enough to last him for a week, even three, depending on their schedule.

But two days later, on a Sunday, Gladio would be finding his way to his usual spot in the bar, ordering a G&T for starters. _The Antidote_ was what the place called itself—a success story by some Lestallum veteran with a slogan that went _Pick your poison_. Despite that, the place was hardly full even during the weekends, an effect of its distance from the central business district. 

Which was exactly why they chose that location for their little charade. Besides, the booze wasnʼt bad and the music was easy on the ears. 

Gladio didnʼt have to wait long before he caught him stepping through the entrance, those green eyes scanning the sparse crowd until they landed on him. Pierced through him—through time and space. Cut like a knife deep in his helpless heart. Through the shadows between the golden baylights, he caught an unmistakable flicker of a smirk on the manʼs face. 

And then he excused himself from a pair exiting the establishment, taking the long way around the bar, circling little tables until he found himself standing right next to him. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” Gladio greeted, smiling slightly as he watched him call the bartenderʼs attention with a flick of his gloved hand. “You drove?” 

“Took a taxi.” Ignis eyed him sideways. He was dressed down to just his black shirt tonight, its sleeves folded to his elbows. As for his blazer, he set it on the space between them. “Iʼm not keen to remove my gloves in public transport anymore. The last one I lost was of a fine make.” 

“They say when you lose something, itʼs the Astralsʼ way of lending a hand to someone in need,” Gladio shared. “If you lost a thousand yen in the street, whoever picks it up probably needs a thousand yen.” 

“One hopes.” Ignis spoke almost dismissively before he leaned a little to the counter and said to the younger man, “An Altissian Spritz, if you please. No need to be shy on the garnish.” Light and easy. 

He was in the mood for a long night. “Rough day?” 

Ignis pressed his hands to the edge of the counter and pulled his shoulders back to stretch. “I think I killed my sourdough starter,” he confessed eventually with a flat smile on his face. 

A bubble of laughter burst from Gladio. He brought his elbows to the polished wood, just as Ignisʼ drink arrived. “No!” he lamented in good mood. “Prompdough?” 

“Indeed,” Ignis sighed, nudging at his glasses. “I still donʼt know how to explain it to him.” 

“It was probably already bad in the first place. Prompto helped out with the measurements, didnʼt he?” 

“Sourdough is a forgiving friend,” Ignis told him after a sip of his Spritz. “Itʼs the one food product that can survive mold so long as you pay attention to it. But,” he traced the thin neck of his glass, “in the end, it _is_ still food.” 

“Nocdough turned out okay, though.” _Nocdough_ had been Ignisʼ first sourdough starter before he took a break from baking. Back then, he had days where he treated it more preciously than the prince it was named after. 

“Perhaps I was too overconfident?” Ignis sipped from his glass again, easily reducing it to half its volume. Gladio knocked his back. “No, I felt like…some part of me was out of it. I must have let myself become too distracted while I was feeding him over the weekend.” 

“You gonna try again?” 

“A Prompdough version 2.0?” Ignis smiled to himself. “If I can be allowed to call it _Promptwo_ , then I will.” 

“Youʼre ridiculous.” 

“And you simply wonʼt understand the joys of baking.” That was a character criticism, if Gladio knew of any. He drank his Spritz again. Just about a thumbʼs width left. 

That was good enough for him. Gladio knocked on the counter and showed his hand to the bartender hurrying to him. “Get me a Crown Mixer.” He turned to his companion, then. “You?” 

That smile pulled itself like a thread, pushing Ignisʼ ears upwards. “Iʼll have a Lestallum Sling,” he answered, facing the bartender. “Again with the garnish,” he added. Gladio only recognized the heat creeping up to his ears, the throbbing of his pulse when the young woman had gone away with their orders. 

He tried to play it off as cool, bringing his elbow to the countertop, his cheek to his fist. “You wanna go someplace else after this?” 

Ignis finished his drink, putting it down away from him. “What do you have in mind?” Those green eyes, fire within them, rose to capture him in their heat. “I donʼt mind going along.”

—

From the bar, it was a 30-minute ride in a taxi to the _Queen Lucii Hotel_ which was another favorite of theirs. A quick hi to the receptionist, a little wave of Gladioʼs VIP card and they were on their way up the deluxe room.

“Is this the poolside view?” Ignis asked as they waited in the lift, busy with his phone. 

“Think so,” Gladio answered, looking first at the key card in his hand, inspecting it for their room number. Then he turned to the man to his right, putting his phone back in his pocket. “You wanna open up the windows?” 

“Obviously not during,” Ignis replied, looking back to him. “But knowing what we might both get up to, I might need to crack it open to catch my breath.” 

Out the lift, past the stairwell, they came at the middle door of the right side wall. Gladio opened it for the both of them, slipped a card in through the slot in the wall to get the power working. 

“Keep the lights off,” Ignis told him as he approached the solo couch on the corner, tossing to it his blazer, his gloves, his phone. 

Gladio didnʼt resist the smile on his face now when he came up behind him and drew him in an embrace that brought the manʼs back to his chest. The resulting moan was unmistakable, and so was the storm in his chest as he pressed his nose to his styled hair. Mint, aloe, just a bit of sweat and oil, but more than enough to send a thrill down his legs, his nether regions. This was what he wanted. This honey warmth, the hard shape of his waist in his arms, the tremors up against his skin. 

He laid a kiss on Ignisʼ temple after the man had removed his glasses. “Sex by the moonlight?” he rumbled while his fingers slipped his belt loose. He pressed his bulge against Ignisʼ ass, so eager to get started. 

“You know I love it,” Ignis sighed, removing his necklace next. It joined his belt on the solo couch. He turned around, then, hands slipping under Gladioʼs jacket to push it off his shoulders, or at least leave a very strong hint that he wanted it out of his sight. Gladio obeyed, though he saw more than felt it, obsessed as he was by the slender shape of Ignisʼ lips. This excitement, this joy… 

“But first—” The man whispered, tracing his thumb idly along the line on his left cheek, a little rough from the work he does. “—a kiss,” Ignis ordered, drawing Gladioʼs eyes to the light in his. “Iʼm so thirsty for you, Gladio.” So much that he sounded so utterly breathless when he spoke those words. 

“No more than Iʼm hungry for you,” Gladio growled, pulling him flush against his cock by the belt loops. “Feed me,” he commanded. Ignis obeyed by fastening his hands onto his jaws and crushing their lips together. An urgent tongue filled Gladioʼs mouth and sent him moaning like a dumb man. Ignis ground his pelvis into him, kissing and parting, kissing and parting, if only for the noise their lips and saliva made. This obsession, this frustration… 

They were exactly what Gladio was missing.

—

What else did he want Ignis for?

The tight string of muscles along his long legs that swooped over Gladioʼs thighs, down his arms as he strained against his captive grasp. 

The deep tremors he unearthed from within his tight passage, every strike of his swollen head welcomed with the sweetest, “Oh!” 

The perfect shape of his arched back as if to show his lover how proudly his erection stood. How he spread himself wide open for him, full of trust and want. And then if he cried in pain, how tightly he clenched around his rigid shaft, and sang to him, “Yes. Again. Please.” He was the only one who could take him for his brutality, who welcomed his strength like a gift from the gods. 

And for him, Gladio would give him everything—his raging lust, his unforgiving power. He pounded into him relentlessly, left him writhing and crying, twisting his face to the bed sheet, no escape as he held down his wrists by the sides of his knees. He liked him this way—every shred of his composure ripped away until he was nothing more than ragged breaths and desperate moans. 

And yet, he liked him wiley, too. Slipping out of his grasp, leaving him completely blindsided when he consumed his mouth with a kiss before he pushed him to his back so that he mounted him instead. 

For a second, Gladio could only stare in breathless wonder. Ignis grinned at him in triumph, his hair a complete mess. His hands, he swept down Gladioʼs pecs to squeeze them before he brought them up to his own nipples to tease them. He was putting on a show for him, tilting his head back as he started to roll his hips. 

Gladio groaned deeply and happily at the erotic dancing, the tight motion, the lovely pressure in his fruits, knees trembling with the sweetest fire. He flicked his tongue over his fingers and toyed with his left teat to give Ignis something to watch when he faced him again. As for his other hand… 

He wrapped his fingers around Ignisʼ sleek cock and started to stroke. Ignis tensed at this new touch, squeezing hard around him, almost enough to make him burst. Gladio choked at the wave of euphoria before he released it in a thunderous groan. He rolled his eyes. 

Ignis changed his motions, bracing both hands on Gladioʼs chest while he rocked himself forward, chasing selfishly for his own high while Gladio scraped him inside with his length and he rubbed himself in Gladioʼs fist. His blushing face, his lopsided mouth, his half-lidded eyes lost in some deep-seated craving… 

“Come on my stomach,” Gladio growled to him, hard at breath. Ignis nodded and ground himself deeper, pushing faster. Gladio cried out the deepest moan, too sensitive and heavy to be holding on much longer. He wanted to disappear behind his own eyelids but he wanted to watch Ignis—his heaving chest, his rolling stomach, his leaking cock. 

The grateful spurt of his seeds onto his abdomen, his chest, coating him in sweet heat that almost made him cry as Gladio finally burst inside him. Ignis sang out a long and winded drone as he hung his head back, jumping with every sharp smack of Gladioʼs hips as he emptied out inside him. His nipples were red and swollen like cherries. He wanted to put them in his mouth. 

He reached for Ignisʼ elbows when his arms started to tremble, held onto him while he rolled to his side on the bed so Gladio could pull out. After a weary groan, Ignis smiled, and started to giggle like a drunk. 

“Iʼm satisfied,” he said softly, pulling a pillow down to his shoulder. Gladio spared him a smile as he turned to his back to slip off his condom. “I donʼt remember the last time I came that hard.” He was looking at his soaked front. 

“Would you believe me if I said I nearly cried when you came?” Gladio laughed, knotting the used latex carefully before he tossed it to the trash bin just under the nightstand. “As if itʼs the first time a guyʼs ever come all over me.” 

“Sap.” Ignis pinched him on his side, making Gladio jump. “Lie down. I want to see you like this.” He pulled him by his biceps. 

Then he settled down into his pillow, and Gladio smiled with him on his, happy and fulfilled. With Ignis beside him like this, he couldnʼt think of anything more to ask. He felt perfectly balanced. Perfectly at ease. “I didnʼt see you in the bar last Friday.” 

“Yeah, I,” Gladio shrugged a bit, “did some thinking.” 

Ignis wrinkled his nose. “Sounds dangerous,” he teased. “Did you think well, then?” 

“Yeah, I…” Gladio nodded. “Think my headʼs a bit clearer now.” 

“What is it about?”

“Just…” Gladio paused, wondering how much he could say within the context of this relationship they had. “Things about…this. Us.” Ignis raised his brows. “Friends to lovers. How I want it to go on.” 

“Is it getting in the way of your work?” Ignis sounded a little alarmed when he asked. 

“No, no,” Gladio assured him, clapping him on his biceps. “Itʼs just…I just think itʼs funny that we just decided to start meeting every week for sex.” He laughed through his breath, and so did Ignis, smiling. “Thought it was just a one-time thing, maybe three but…next thing I know, itʼs been four months since I asked.” 

“Do you enjoy it?” 

Gladio stared at him, then snorted out in amusement. “Ignis, enjoying it is the understatement of the century.” Ignis beamed at that. “I fucking love every minute of it, Ignis. Every second weʼre kissing, every time weʼre inside each other…I just feel like my lifeʼs complete.” 

Ignis breathed out, “My, my, someoneʼs feeling quite sentimental.” He reached out and started to tease one of Gladioʼs nipples, sending a tickling shock all the way to his wings. He laughed at the playful touching, his stomach quailing a little, giddy with the attention. “Though I canʼt say…the feeling isnʼt mutual. I waited for you in the bar last Friday.” 

“Iʼm sorry,” Gladio whispered. He took his hand and brought it to his lips. “Did you wait long?” He put his thumb into his mouth and began to suck it. 

Ignis played with his lapping tongue. “I bought a drink, sat for about half an hour…then I went home.” That was good. Gladio might feel terrible if he found out he waited much longer while he was fucking another man who wasnʼt even half as hot as Ignis. No fault of his, of course, Ignis was just that good. 

“I canʼt let you go home without going for another round, then.” The sparkle in Ignisʼ eyes brought a slow grin to Gladioʼs face. “Besides, I have a mind to go cherry picking tonight.”

—

The next morning, when he woke up, and saw Ignis sleeping beside him, Gladio made the decision never to sleep with anyone else again. At least not for as long as he could get Ignis like this. What was the point of looking for someone else to satisfy him when he knew who he wanted, after all? His shudders, his cries, the way he gyrated or twisted himself…

And they had sex again when Ignis woke up, and again on the couch after breakfast. If Gladio didnʼt have a meeting at 9 in the morning, he thought they might take it to the shower room but they were responsible men, he and Ignis. 

After one last kiss, one last pinch on Ignisʼ ass, a promise to meet again on the weekend, they left the room. As if nothing had ever happened.

—

Or…maybe nothing _did_ happen between them.

He counted to five, and then the _59_ turned to _00_ on his phone. Officially, an hour had passed. 

Officially, Gladio had been waiting for an hour. Ignis would never come, he thought. He could call him, of course, but it was just an unspoken thing between them that they didnʼt. If they saw each other in the bar, then they would talk. If they didnʼt, then they didnʼt. 

So they wouldnʼt. Gladio ordered another beer before he moved himself to a recently vacated booth. Now that he was in this situation, he thought he might make good of it. 

_How do you feel?_ he asked himself as he pulled from the bottle. Easily: he missed Ignis. 

_Which part?_ Closing his eyes, he brought the man to mind—his strict profile across the corridor, the daggers in his eyes as they sparred, his disheveled look as they made out, the way his mouth hung open as Gladio rode him. Then his sleeping face in the morning, his drowsy smile after a long night of fucking. 

The way the light fell easily on his skin, casting little shadows on the swell of his arms, his chest. His long legs folded just so, the rise and fall of his stomach as he breathed, those little moles on his face that formed a constellation only Gladio could read. The twinkle in his green eyes, sometimes soft as fresh grass, sometimes fierce like the meaning behind his name. 

_All parts_ , he told himself. Heʼd hardly seen everything there was to see about the man but he would love it if he could. 

_How would you feel,_ his other voice went on, _if he was showing this to another person right now?_

He imagined that, too, scanning the crowd for a face. That woman with strawberry red hair, in a black plunging dress and high-cut boots. He imagined her splayed beneath Ignis, moaning as he fucked her. 

Couldn’t do it. In most of his experiences with the man, he knew he wasnʼt exactly…the plain kind of top. Ignis was serious on the outside but behind locked doors, he liked to play. 

A man, then. Gladio spotted someone in his usual spot, hair tied up to a high bun, green muscle shirt, a scripted tattoo on his forearm. Not bad looking. 

He put him in the bedroom, then, closed his eyes. Ignis was on his knees, shoulders on the bed. Their balls would be smacking into each other, loud in the dark room. Itʼs a good image to get Gladio stirring between his legs. And then Ignisʼ grunts would transform into the long _oohs_ and _ohs_ he makes when heʼs getting hard. “Yes…yes…!” 

The imagination came to a complete halt when Gladio made him scream the wrong name: his own. 

He sighed, dropping his head back to the wooden wall and taking a swig from the bottle. So in conclusion: he felt no jealousy towards Ignis…because he couldnʼt imagine Ignis doing the things he did with Gladio with someone else. Did that mean he saw him as his? 

No—he wanted to. Officially. 

He wanted him to be officially his.

—

_If he doesnʼt come around in 30 minutes, then I really am leaving,_ Gladio told no one in particular when he received his glass of sour and took a large sip. He came back immediately the next day, at the usual time he and Ignis would meet. He browsed his phone on the counter, pretending he really meant to do it and that he wasnʼt keeping the time easily within sight. Five minutes turned ten, turned to twenty…turned to—

At 25 minutes, the door swung open and he caught him, just as he was stepping through again. As before, he scanned the patrons, shrugging off his blazer. Their eyes met. Gladio felt his world stop spinning. 

A ghost of a smile left a trace on Ignisʼ face, and each step he took towards Gladio set his heart beating, the next louder than the last. No pretenses this time. He headed straight for him, facing him even as he sat next to him. “Sorry, Iʼm late,” Ignis said. 

Gladio brought the glass to his lips to finish it. “Whoʼs late?” 

Ignis shrugged, bringing both wrists to the bartop. “I just had a feeling that you would be waiting.” He was. 

“And if I was?” Gladio boosted a brow, raised a smirk. 

Ignis only smiled at his teasing. “Then I apologized. I was busy.” Was he explaining his absence? 

“Long day at work?” Gladio called the bartender, then. Best to get started. 

Ignisʼ eyes narrowed as he considered his question. “I was…doing some thinking.” That got his attention. 

Gladio whipped back to him, brows high. His heart, maybe, was pounding a little wilder. What kind of thinking, he wondered. “Donʼt you already do a lot of thinking as your day job?” 

Ignis made an ugly noise when he laughed through his nose before he let it out through his smile. His chest swelled. This side of him, Gladio wanted it, too. “Unfortunately, I donʼt get paid to do all sorts of thinking. Some types of it, I have to do on my own time.” 

“Do you good, then?” 

Ignis nodded, pressing his elbows to the edge of the counter as he folded his arms. “Gave me a bit of direction,” he replied. 

Gladio turned to the young man who appeared behind the counter, ready to take their orders. He slid his empty glass for him to take away. “Iʼll have a Cosmo Genie.” He made sure he looked at Ignis when he said that. 

The man appeared to stiffen at his choice. If he hadnʼt been watching him closely, Gladio might have missed the way he restrained himself by biting his cheek. 

Then he ordered smoothly, “Give me a Rumbling Ramuh.” When the bartender left them, Gladio swore there was a glint in Ignisʼ eyes when he smiled at him.

—

A cruel hand grabbed him by the hair and yanked him backwards with an unforgiving strength. What choice did Gladio have but to whimper and twitch between his legs?

“Oh?” That feline smile leered closely to his side. “Did you like that?” He did. Gods above, he fucking did and he knew Ignis knew it. Otherwise he wouldnʼt be punishing him like this. “I shall have to do it again, then.” But before that, he peppered little kisses on his cheek, letting go of his hands behind him finally so he could squeeze one of Gladioʼs pecs, eliciting a deep moan from within. 

Despite that, Gladio didnʼt dare move his freed arms, not when he was finally getting what he wanted—Ignis pulling his hair, teasing his blushing nipple while he pummeled him like a machine. The squelch and the snap of their asses stirred him, told him _Ignis Scientia is fucking me_ , and nothing could be more beautiful than that. 

“Watch,” Ignis breathed to his ear, flicking his nipple like a toy with his finger. “Watch this little thing move.” Gladio obeyed him. He rubbed circles on its taut flesh, then pulled and pinched it. Ignis Scientia was playing with him. 

A deep gurgle unearthed itself from Gladioʼs chest when he turned away, lost to his embarrassment. That hand tightened around his hair again and wrenched him backwards until he must be bending hard against his lover. Gladio let out a startled cry. He thought he must have surely come a little from that. 

“Whatʼs the use of having a gorgeous body if you wonʼt play with it, anyway?” Ignis didnʼt wait for an answer before he crushed their mouths together, darting his tongue through until Gladio choked, his dick jumping. Those fingers still rolled and twisted his nipple. 

Tears passed the corners of his eyes amidst the kiss. Gladio felt so full, in his heart and between his legs. 

Ignis shoved him back to the bed, grabbed those arms like they were his reins, pulled out and slammed straight into his prostate. Gladio yelled out loud, arching at the sweet pain. Between him, he could see himself drooling clear fluid onto the towel under his knees. Was there a way he could show this to Ignis? 

His lover moaned out deeply behind him while he pounded him, his hard head scraping at his battered passage. Gladio felt so sensitive to his toes. “I always forgot how wonderful you feel inside you, Gladio. So tight and warm, so perfect…” 

_Perfect for you_ , he wanted to add, if he was allowed to talk at all. 

And then just like that, Ignis pulled out. He must have felt the equivalent of his entire world collapsing when he produced the most pitiful sound a man his size could ever manage. 

He shouldnʼt be surprised that it only made Ignis giggle. “Oh dear, heʼs gotten clingy. Donʼt move,” he heard the sound of the condom snapping. When he dared to look over to his side, he saw that Ignisʼ blushing shaft was high and rigid, its flesh exposed for Gladioʼs feasting eyes. He stirred again at its length and girth, flicking his tongue along his lips. 

“Donʼt think I didnʼt see that.” With a fierce hand, Ignis turned him to his back until he was lying on the bed, and he could straddle him over his legs, stroking himself. “You want this?” he asked sweetly. Gladio swallowed his spit as he nodded. Ignis smiled at him, then. “Show me how you come.” 

He couldnʼt have grabbed his dick faster and pumped it, his sensitive flesh causing him to whimper and moan and curl his toes. 

“Watch,” Ignis said again, still stroking himself with his talented fingers. His other ones he brought to his own nipple to tease. That certainly helped bring Gladio closer to the point of no return. “Watch,” he reminded him. 

He started to dance, then, hips gyrating as he sang out the sweetest, most delectable moan. Gladio stirred hard and rubbed himself faster, whimpering desperately. 

When he came, he didnʼt know what brought the tears of relief—his own release or the joyful look on Ignisʼ face as he watched him spurt like a fountain. “My big boy,” he chuckled, reaching down to grace him with his own expert touch. Gladio groaned gratefully and came in harder jets. 

Ignis hummed pleasantly at his performance. “Very good,” he commended him, pinching his glans slightly to tease. Gladio twitched again but could hardly produce more than a bead by now. Then he crawled up to Gladioʼs face, “Now, for your reward,” and wagged his heavy erection on his sealed lips. Gladio barely got to kiss and taste it before Ignis shoved himself down his throat. 

It took them both about a quarter of an hour to catch their breaths, lying down next to each other, panting and grinning stupidly. Ignis was the first to get up so he could crack open the window and bring their bottles of water back to the bed with him. 

“You were amazing, Ignis.” When Gladio finally spoke up, his voice was still raw from all his exertions and ragged breathing. Ignis carried him up to his elbows and fixed the pillows behind him before he cracked open his bottle of water. So different from the sadistic line he played earlier. “And now youʼre taking care of me like this…” He shook his head. “You drive a man so fucking wild, Ignis.” 

“Only if his name is Gladiolus Amicitia,” Ignis chuckled, tipping the bottle carefully to his swollen lips. Gladio could drink his own water but he liked it this way. “If you had been anyone else, I canʼt imagine this sex coming to an end like this.” 

“If youʼre an acquired taste, then Iʼm your number 1 connoisseur,” Gladio laughed weakly, relaxing into his pillows. “You’re a fucking wonder, Ignis.” 

Ignis smiled at him. “Thank you,” he said, before he leaned down and kissed him, lips moving slowly so they could both savor the sweetness. “It does make me curious, though,” he went on, drinking some water before he laid down on his own pillows. “What sort of things did you and your previous tops get up to?” 

“Hm?” Gladio twisted himself so that they were facing each other. 

“I seem to recall that the last time I topped you without playing with you, you were more than a little underwhelmed.” Ignis shifted on his pillow until he was comfortable. Gladio carried his leg to his waist just so he could knead a little under his knee. “Do they pull your hair, too?” Funny he should ask that. 

Gladio put on a little chuckle before he confessed, “You’re actually the only guy whoʼs ever topped me.” When Ignis boosted himself on his elbow to stare at him, Gladio nodded. “Itʼs true. No one else has ever come close.” 

“Why?” 

“I just…” Gladio shrugged. He paused briefly to consider an explanation. “Do you sleep with just about anyone whoʼs willing?” 

“Certainly not.” 

“Exactly, right?” Gladio started bouncing his hand lightly on his leg. “Things like this, you need a connection. You need some trust. And, youʼre the only person I could ever trust to peg me like that.” 

“Person,” Ignis repeated with an amused chuckle. He snuggled deeper in his pillow. “So Iʼve bested all your previous partners.” 

“Not that thereʼs many.” Gladio nodded, tracing a light finger along the folded underside of his knee. “But…yeah. Youʼre the only one who ever gets me this high, doesnʼt matter of Iʼm the one fucking you or youʼre the one fucking me. It just…” He shrugged again, out of ideas. “It just has to be you.” 

That brought a smile to Ignisʼ face, a star in his eyes. He crawled closer to Gladio until he could wrap his leg around his waist. Then with his hand alighting so tenderly on his cheek, he swept his tongue gently along his lips. Gladio started to laugh at his cat-like motions, doing half-hearted attempts to catch his tongue. He slipped his hand under Ignis and carried him up to mount him, wriggling to his back, while the manʼs efforts became more eager. 

That tongue soon became wet kisses all along his face. Gladio teased one of his nipples and stroked his flesh with his other hand.

—

“So then Dad goes back to the furniture store,” Gladio went on with his story, bouncing a little on his pillow. It was getting light out. “And he takes me along and since Iʼm already 9, he thinks I can handle babysitting an infant.” He started to laugh with Ignis. “So I take her with me and walk into the store with her. But then sheʼs getting heavy in my arms and I wanna look around ‘cause I was getting ideas about redecorating my own room. And thereʼs a crib,” he made a series of ugly snorts as Ignis drew himself much closer, “so I thought hey, thatʼs perfect so I put her down in it and do some walking around on my own.”

“Oh no,” Ignis laughed. 

Gladio gestured to him. “Yeah, exactly, youʼre getting it. When Dad and I walk out the store, I completely forgot to take Iris with me.” Ignis twisted to his back to laugh on, which only made him smile wider and want to try harder. “And I canʼt begin to tell you how fucking scared I felt when this guy was knocking on the car window and thereʼs Iris crying in his arms! ” 

“What happened to you, then?” 

“Got a scolding in front of the whole house and then I was grounded for a month,” Gladio answered. “It ainʼt bad but I hated that Dad didnʼt blame himself either. I was thinking, he was complicit to the crime, too, yʼknow?” Ignisʼ alarm came off. “I was just a minor, he should be responsible for the both of us.” 

“Did you ever get to tell him that?” Ignis reached for his phone on the nightstand. 

Gladio shook his head. “Not even now. Used to be that I was scared but itʼs just not worth it, yʼknow? Gotta go soon?” 

“I have to drive to Noctʼs place at 10 to pick him up for a meeting,” Ignis sighed, looking sadly on to Gladio, or on to the wild night that they had. “Here I am again, wishing we could spend the whole day like this.” It didnʼt used to be the case, but especially since the last month, the feeling was starting to get more familiar. 

And Gladio always knew what to say. “Itʼs only 6 in the morning. Why donʼt I send you off? Itʼs my rest day today.” 

“Iʼm jealous.” 

“Do you wanna take me again?” Gladio brought himself to his elbows so he could bring his face close to Ignis. Close enough for the man to feel his lips with his thumb without having to move away from the pillow. “Do you wanna watch me fuck myself?” 

“How about…” Ignis bit his lip, green eyes meeting him. “Watching you fuck me?” 

Gladio wrinkled his brows at his request, pairing it with a funny smile. “You sure? Donʼt wanna be top again?” 

“I feel like after the work I put in last night, Iʼve earned my way back to the bottom.” The irony made them both snicker and laugh. “I just want to feel you, thatʼs all.”

“Okay.” It wasnʼt like Gladio was going to say something else. “Cʼmere.” He got up and started to pile his pillows to the headboard so he could lean his back on it comfortably. Ignis crawled to him and met him in a kiss, slipping his tongue through briefly before Gladio turned him to lean against his chest. 

“Wide open for me,” Gladio went on, soaking his fingers in lube. Then slowly, so Ignis didnʼt miss a detail, he reached for his entrance from the front and teased it with his middle finger. The shudder was instantaneous, as was that little moan. Gladio stirred between them. “Good boy,” he kissed him on his shoulder, “letʼs hear that again.” With his three digits, the tips forming a triangle, he plunged deeper into his hidden quakes.

—

That was how he came to his decision.

Saturday evening, a whole 7 days later. Gladio was back in the bar, rolling a chunk of ice around his empty glass. The door opened, and he knew instantly who it was before he looked. 

Ignis had arrived, blazer off. He smiled at him, nodded. 

Marched straight for his side. “Weʼre getting the hang of this,” the man jested, taking his seat. 

“Give us some credit, Ignis.” Gladio nudged him, then beckoned the young lady behind the counter. “Ready to order?” he asked his companion. 

“That depends on what youʼre ordering.” Ignis cast him a meaningful smile with that. 

Gladio returned the look, but he had other ideas in his head. When the bartender stood to face him, he told her, “Tenebrae cream liqueur.” Then he turned to his friend and asked him, “You?” 

The look on Ignisʼ face was to be expected: pressure along his brows, eyes frozen on his countertop, lips quivering into a line. This wasnʼt in the rulebook, he didnʼt know the answer to this question. 

When he lifted his face, he ordered easily, “Iʼll have the same,” before he turned to cast a curious look on his friend. 

“This is a strange choice, Gladio,” he told him as they moved themselves and their drink to a booth. He settled down, facing him. “Crown Mixer says you want to top. Cosmo Genie says you want to bottom. If i order the same, it means I want to negotiate.” He pointed to the dark drink in a tall glass. “But this?” 

Gladio smiled at him. “I want to talk.” 

Ignis curled his brows, brought his fists to the table. 

Gladio laughed a little, his smile stretching a little wider. He scratched the thinner part of his hair on the side as he cleared his throat. “I just…I, Iʼve been thinking, right?” He moved his hand to the both of them. “About us. And…Iʼve been thinking…” He shrugged. “Maybe…maybe itʼs time to take things further.” Ignisʼ brows flew. “I mean,” he put his hand to his chest, “I wanna take things further. With you.” 

“Are we still talking about sex?” Ignis whispered. 

Gladio shook his head. “I…want us to stop meeting just for sex. ‘cause…Iʼm ready to step up, I…” He cleared his throat, squaring his shoulders as he inhaled. “I wanna be your boyfriend. I want us to be in a real relationship with each other.” 

Ignisʼ eyes grew, then. 

He took a long sip from his glass, then put it back on its coaster, turning it a little so that the logo of the drink faced him. “Thatʼs quite a leap, Gladio,” he said after several seconds. 

“Is it?” Gladio winced. But he had feelings for him. 

“We ventured into this kind of relationship because we wanted to enjoy something without the commitment,” Ignis added, reminding him of their history. “You are a fine man, Gladio. And Iʼm not just talking about your performance behind locked doors but in spite of that, we both have a bigger commitment than our little sexcapades.” 

“Do you like me, though?” Ignis had just called him a fine man. 

Ignis stared at him like he was the biggest fool heʼd ever met. “Of course, I do,” he said. “Do you think I would be exposing myself to you like I do if I didnʼt?” He was a very private man, after all. 

“I like you, too, Ignis,” Gladio confessed. “I like you a lot more than just your body parts. I trust you, I feel comfortable and complete when Iʼm with you. You said you trusted me, too.” 

Ignis nodded. 

“Itʼs not like we just meet for sex, anyway. We talk, too—” 

“I am aware, Gladio,” Ignis laughed softly, pushing his glasses back, bringing his shoulders to the wall. “Iʼm at the other end, remember?” Well, obviously. 

He sighed out loudly, turned to the sleepy bar. Then he faced Gladio again. “This is quite frightening, you know?” 

Gladio shrugged with a hand. “If it ainʼt worth it…” Then it wasnʼt worth being scared for. 

“I could break your heart, Gladio.” 

“ _I_ could break _your_ heart,” Gladio echoed him. “But even a relationship thatʼs just all about sex has its own risks, right? I risk hurting you every time I take you, but we do it anyway ‘cause we think itʼs worth it.” 

Ignis exhaled nodding. He distracted himself again with his liqueur. Gladio realized he could do the same and gulped down a mouthful. “I would be lying if I said I wasnʼt interested, Gladio,” he admitted. Gladioʼs heart fluttered, then. Ignis pulled his eyes shut with a guttural groan. 

Then with a toss of his hands, he said, “Who am I joking? Of course I want to do this.” 

“Yeah?” Gladio laughed suddenly, shifting closer to his new boyfriend. 

“Yes,” Ignis repeated it, meeting him with his soft green eyes. “It would be wrong for me to deny us this. I like you, I trust you, and I want you.” He shrugged a little. “Surely that must be all I need to be ready to commit.” 

“Yeah,” Gladio said again. “I, I mean,” he gestured to Ignis, “it doesnʼt have to be a perfect relationship, yʼknow?” 

“Yes.” 

“Even our sex wasnʼt all explosive and fulfilling. But…itʼs just gotta be—” 

“You and I,” Ignis finished for him, nodding to an easy rhythm. 

Gladio huffed in surprise at his words, and smiled brightly. “Yeah,” he agreed. What else could be the point, after all? “You and I.”

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is my first fic in a series of fics inspired by songs in my playlist and this one is based off of dark rooms' _[6am& do it again](https://youtu.be/NSLYxWxveSc)!_ i'll be collecting this all in a series called _fire & steel playbook_ which is the name of my gladnis playlist on spotify XDDD anyway, thanks for dropping by!! o///


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